Read Gene Roddenberry's clumsy stabs at Star Trek's famous opening

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"Space ... the final frontier. These are the voyages of the Starship Enterprise ..." Some of the most famous words in all of science fiction. And, it turns out, written by Roddenberry at the very last minute. Here are some of the dead ends he went down before landing on the perfect passage.

In early August of 1966, weeks before Star Trek was set to premiere, the legendary opening monologue still wasn't completed. In a panic, producers Bob Justman and John Black began furiously trading memos with Roddenberry, all but begging him to write it so that Shatner could record it.

Below are some of the attempts ... before Roddenberry nailed it an hour before Shatner put it on tape on Aug. 10. And here's the final version: